Fougasse – The Bread From The South

Today we are going to make “Fougasse”, this is a type of bread that is traditionally made in the South of France, but you can find variations of it in all the regions. In my region, since our specialty is mostly cheese and smoked sausages, we find fougasse made with cheese, sausage and potatoes. I decided to show you a more traditional recipe using olives and rosemary, but really you can make it with the ingredients of your choice!

If you have never made bread before, don’t be scared! This is actually easier than you think! But it will require some strength to knead the dough.

Like usual this bread didn’t last long at home. It was gone in an hour only!

Let’s start cooking!

Ingredients:

2 cups of white flour

1 cup of warm water

1 tablespoon of dry yeast

olive oil

rosemary

black olives

1 teaspoon of salt

Instructions:

1- In a large mixing bowl, add the 2 cups of flour and a teaspoon of salt. Mix well and add 1 tablespoon of dry yeast, I used traditional yeast for this recipe but quick rise will work well too. Mix well again

2- Add 1 cup of warm water and start mixing the dough. If the dough is still too dry, you can can add more water. Mix until your dough forms a non-sticky ball.

3- Once you have a non-sticky ball of dough, knead it for 10 to 15 minutes. I know this require some muscles but it necessary. I advise you to knead the dough outside the bowl. Place the dough on a floured table and knead it. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover with a wet towel or cling wrap. Let it rest for 1 hour in a warm place.

4- After 1 hour, you will see that the dough doubled. Gather it in a ball again inside the bowl. Add black olives and rosemary to your taste. I used half of a jar of kalamata olives and 5 branches of rosemary. Mix well and form a ball

5- Place the ball of dough on a floured table and flatten it with a rolling pin. Shape the dough in an oval shape. After, make some cuts inside the dough. You can copy how I did on the picture or make your own.

6- Transfer onto an oven pan and brush the top with a little bit of olive oil. Preheat your oven to 390 F. Let it rise again the time your oven gets ready.

7- Once your oven is ready, bake for 20 min, or until the top of the bread gets a nice color.

I hope you will enjoy this recipe! Let me know in the comments below what you thought of it!